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User blog:Anselmo499/The Emperor of the Night - Chapter 2
Title: The Emperor of the Night Author: DarthImperius Rating: T Genre: General/Fantasy Published: 20/06/2017 Disclaimer: The Harry Potter franchise and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling. ---- "Normal Speech" "Thoughts" ---- Chapter 2 – The Attack Godric's Hollow, West Country, England (U.K.) As a wizard, James Potter was far more used to the otherworldly than the common man. Yet when he first learned of Lily's true origins, he simply could not believe it. For the love of his teenage years which endured into adulthood to come from another world, a different universe even, it was simply unthinkable. Seeing that there would be no other way, Lily resorted into "kidnapping" James and brought him into Arcadia. Facing the unknown land directly, James had no choice but to accept the truth. In a moment of insight, his first thoughts were about how Lily was able to use magic, and how he and a non-human would be able to have children. "Focus on the 'do', and not on the 'how'," was her response, and James did not press her into any more details. It had been there that James also learned of Lily's true name and bloodline, meeting her older sister, Zenolia, and her husband, Ganriil, co-rulers of the Great Kingdom, alongside their two children. Now conscious of what was happening and had happened in Arcadia, neither James nor anyone could have suspected that three years later Ganriil would discard his name and assume the mantle of Dark Lord as Sarutar. He knew that the war had lasted for months and had devastated parts of the continent, but both he and Zenolia pressed Lily to remain on Earth for her protection, and the possibility of Zenolia's death and that of her children. It did not help that the heir to the Great Kingdom had been turned to his father's side, turning traitor and automatically being barred from succession. To James, he wanted Lily's presence on Earth out of love and worry, while to Zenolia, it was both sisterly love and the necessity of a "backup heir". But when Aurion, or Harry as he was now called was born, the war escalated quickly. For reasons unknown to many, the Dark Lord ordered the kidnapping of his own son, and succeeded in doing so. James's lack of information regarding what followed was great, and he only knew that somehow the forces loyal to Zenolia assaulted a stronghold of Sarutar, where Aurion was held, and managed to rescue him, before bringing him to Earth. Compared to their current predicament, James was not sure where his nephew would be safer. If back on Arcadia, or here, in a house protected by an enchantment while the four hid from a maniacal dark wizard whose followers referred to him as the Dark Lord, who apparently wanted to kill all four because of some sort of prophecy. At least according to Dumbledore. Better safe than sorry, though. "Are the boys sleeping?" he asked. "They'll be soon enough," said Lily as she fell on the sofa. "I hate this." That comment was unusual. "What?" asked James, confused. "Hiding here," clarified Lily. "I hate it. I thought many times about taking us four to Arcadia, but then I remember how things may be there now... It's trading the blade of a sword for that of another." "A week has passed, and nothing has happened," pointed out James. "Peter must be somewhere hiding as well, so You-Know-Who won't easily find him." Not speaking Voldemort's name was practically a necessity now, as the bastard had somehow made his name into a Taboo, using it to find those courageous enough to pronounce it. Needless to say, the majority of those had been careless opponents of Voldemort. The others were simply careless. "I still don't like it." "Neither do I," said James. "But what other choice do we have?" Lily sighed, reaching out for a book on the coffee table. Yet as she did so, the binding nature of the Fidelius Charm announced the arrival of someone to the two on their property. James, who was closer to the windows, immediately ran towards them, looking outside to see who it was. The moment he set his eyes on the newcomer, he felt himself faint. "Lily, take the boys and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!" Lily immediately ran from the sofa and into the stairs, James running to the coffee table and grabbing his wand, before heading out into the entrance hall. His wand pointed at the door, he prepared himself for a confrontation that would likely end in his death. And as the door was blasted into pieces by Lord Voldemort, James only tightened the grip on his wand. ---- It was not unusual for Sirius Black to make daily trips to the village where Peter was hiding, checking if his fellow Marauder was still safe. Needless to say, when he discovered that Peter's house was empty, and there was no sign of any struggle, it could only mean two things. Peter either had surrendered himself to the Death Eaters, avoiding any kind of fight, or he had in fact betrayed them. Dumbledore's orders had been clear, that he was not supposed to leave his house under any circumstance, and that all supplies such as food and other things would be delivered by house-elves from Hogwarts. The lack of a Dark Mark above the house only reinforced the second possibility. Sirius immediately apparated towards Godric's Hollow, and what he found upon arrival was horrifying. The cottage where the Potters had been hiding was in ruins, the first floor a wrecked mess. There were debris scattered across the street, mostly from parts of the roof and the walls. The entrance door had been blasted away, and there was utter silence coming from inside the house. He immediately ran towards the house, entering it, and finding a fallen James near the stairs, his wand nearby. "James…" he whispered in shock. Sirius approached the body of his friend, and at close range, he realized that James's chest was moving. He was breathing. He sighed in relief, but there were still other three people he had to check. He ran upstairs, his wand ready for any confrontation. Once up there, he had to walk over debris in order to reach the children's bedroom, where they likely were. Lily was inside, fallen on the floor much like James, and the two children were on their cots, the two seemingly unconscious as well. Near Lily as a black robe, and a white bone-like wand near it. Oddly enough, there was no sign of Voldemort nearby. Could it mean…? Seeing that Lily was unconscious like James, Sirius moved towards the children, wanting to know if Voldemort had somehow succeeded in killing them. Relief washed over him, as he saw that the two were still breathing, yet the two boys were a bit injured, likely from the explosion, or whatever Voldemort had done. He pointed his wand at Lily, hoping that what he was about to do wouldn't compromise her health. "Rennervate!" Under the effect of the spell, Lily immediately awoke, deeply inhaling air as if she had been holding her breath for many seconds. She looked around confused and panicked, quickly noticing Sirius's presence. "Sirius, what? James… the children!" "Lily, calm down!" said Sirius. "They're fine, I think. James is downstairs unconscious, and the boys are as well. You're all alive, somehow." What Sirius said was too good to be true, but she quickly remembered who had attacked them. "Where is he? Where's You-Know-Who?" she demanded. At this, Sirius was not sure of what to answer. "I guess…," he said, pointing his wand at the black robes and wand. "…there." Lily turned towards the robes, her eyes widening in recognition. Surely, there was no way that Voldemort had ran naked from their house, so it could only mean that the dark wizard had somehow been defeated. "Sirius, go downstairs and revive James," she requested. "I'll…I'll take care of the boys." Sirius nodded, quickly heading downstairs. Lily got up, feeling rather dizzy as the world seemed to be moving in ways that were not possible. It was then that she noticed the extent of the damage caused by the attack. "Oh, by the Empress…" From their ruined house, she could even see the church's tower, and no doubt there would soon be people coming over to see what the ruckus had been about. Especially today, that was Halloween. She crouched down and took hold of Voldemort's wand, placing it on one of her pockets, before looking around for hers. Finding it, she went over to the cribs, checking on the two children. They were mostly unharmed, although the two had small wounds on their heads. She was unsure of waking them up was a good idea, especially considering the state of the house, and how panicked the two would become. She would need to have a healer to look at Henry and Harry. The sound of someone running up the stairs, made her alert, and when James entered the room, she was nearly squashed by her husband's embrace. "Thank Merlin you're alright!" said James. Lily simply nodded. "The boys?" "Asleep," she responded. "I think he's dead." James looked at her as if Lily had suddenly grown two heads. "What?" "You-Know-Who. I think he's dead," said Lily, pointing at the robes. "That's all that remained of him." She took out Voldemort's wand, showing it to James. "And his wand as well." The Potter patriarch looked at the wand dumbfounded. There was no possible way that Voldemort had run away, leaving his wand behind. Yet, the thought of Voldemort having been somehow killed was very surreal. Perhaps Dumbledore could shed some light on this matter. A loud crack coming from outside made the three wizards nervous. James went downstairs, joining Sirius, Lily remaining upstairs with the children. A tall figure entered the house, his rather extravagant robes giving away who it was. "Professor Dumbledore," nearly whispered James in relief. Perhaps this whole mess could be solved quicker with the headmaster here. "Good evening James," said Dumbledore. "And… Sirius?" "He was not the keeper," quickly clarified James. "We secretly choose him as a decoy. Peter was the real one." Saying that brought a quick realization to James. "Oh… so he… When I get my hands on him, I'll kill him!" "Let us hope it won't come to that," said Albus. "Lily and the children?" "They're fine. A bit injured, but alive." "And Voldemort?" James and Sirius glanced around, a bit paranoid about speaking the dark wizard's name, considering the consequences. "All that remained of him were his robes and wand," said Sirius. "They're still upstairs, if you want to see them." Dumbledore nodded. "I would very much like to." The old headmaster followed the two wizards into the house, stopping to cast a muggle-repelling charm around the house. Upstairs, Dumbledore could see the damage caused by the attack, but something was not right about this whole affair. "Lily, it is good to see you are alright," said Dumbledore upon seeing his former student. Lily was startled by the voice of Dumbledore, and turned around to greet the headmaster. "Headmaster, thank goodness you've arrived," she said. "We're not sure of what to do now. I mean, the children need to be healed from their wounds, but everything else…" Dumbledore looked around the destroyed room, using his wand to look for any signs of latent dark magic. Strangely enough, there were little, not enough to cause such damage to the building. So what exactly had destroyed the walls? "It appears there are little signs of persistent dark magic here. Possibly from any dark magic used by Voldemort," affirmed Dumbledore. "If you so wish, the cottage can be repaired without any issues, but it will take time for the latent magic to fade away. May I look at the children?" Lily and James nodded, and Dumbledore approached the two cribs. He looked down at the sleeping boys, observing the wounds they had. A closer magical inspection revealed that the two had been hit with the same spell, its dark nature quite evident. But somehow, it had no effect on either child. And in each child, where the curse had made contact, was a peculiar wound, both shaped like lightning bolts. "Interesting…" mumbled the headmaster, who turned around and faced the three wizards. "You said his robes and wand were here, correct?" Sirius pointed towards the ground, while Lily took out Voldemort's wand from her pocket, handing it to Dumbledore. He took the wand, before pointing his own at it. "Prior Incantato." From the tip of Voldemort's wand came a green mist, rising up into the air, within it a visible bolt of green light. It quickly faded away, but it left no doubt about what spell Voldemort had used last. "That was… the Killing Curse, was it not?" asked Lily. "Indeed it was," replied the headmaster, now looking at the children with far greater curiosity. The wound left behind on Harry and Henry could have only been caused by a dark curse, and since the Killing Curse had been the last spell to be used Voldemort... how in heavens did they survive it? More importantly, how exactly did this whole situation fit with Trelawney's prophecy? It spoke of a single individual being marked, not two. Not to mention that Harry was not the biological child of Lily and James, so he could not fit into it. Yet, he too had been marked by Voldemort. Dumbledore was quite sure, at that moment, that Harry Potter would prove to be a quite interesting individual, once grown up. There was also the prospect of him being a muggle, so he should not jump into conclusions. Time would tell. ---- It would not take much time for the news to spread across the wizard community of Britain, much to the happiness of the majority of the population. But to these people, the thought of a child defeating Voldemort was surreal, but the declaration of Dumbledore had been enough to confirm it. Yet despite the old headmaster's statement that both Henry Potter and his adoptive brother had both a hand in the defeat of the dark wizard, it mattered little for these people. It was simply impossible for a muggle to have defeated Voldemort, so they only had one hero to hail. And across many homes and pubs, a phrase was shouted by those who celebrated the defeat of one who had been the cause of so many deaths in the last few decades. "To Henry Potter! The Boy-Who-Lived!" Category:Chapters of The Emperor of the Night